Today, April 26, marks the two-year anniversary of this blog. When I began, I was not sure who would read it or how it would evolve.
In these past two years, the blog has received some 11,645,000 page views. I have put up nearly 8,000 posts, and you have registered nearly 200,000 comments.
My purpose when I started was to create a space where parents, students, teachers, principals, superintendents, public-spirited citizens, school board members, and anyone else who wishes to do so could share their ideas, dreams, fears, and hopes about the current state and future of American education. My guiding principle has been “a better education for all children.” I have never been so presumptuous as to assert that I know how to teach or that I have the answer to all questions. I rely on you, the readers, to share your knowledge and experiences as we together examine some of the ruinous policies now mandated by the federal government, policies that place more value on data than on children, that trust metrics more than professional judgment, and that prioritize standardized tests over learning and real education.
We have that space. We have the most vigorous discussion of education issues on the Internet. We don’t bar dissenting views, although I do ban certain curse words that I don’t want on my blog and I do not tolerate personal insults. We even have trolls. I have said repeatedly that this blog is my virtual living room (although sometimes it is my virtual classroom), and I expect a certain level of civility. You may feel angry, and you can express your anger or frustration or rage, but please mind your language. And remember, if you want to insult me, do it on another blog, not here. Other than those rather limited rules, the floor is always open.
If you post a fascinating comment, I may turn it into a featured post, but I won’t use your name unless you use it. If you write in anonymity, I will respect your need to protect your job.
I believe the tide is turning. I believe the American public is waking up to the orchestrated effort to privatize and monetize public education. We will not sit by idly as a small group of very wealthy people try to gain control of our public schools. We are organizing to educate the public. In state after state, teachers and parents are speaking out against high-stakes testing and privatization. I am convinced that the public will not willingly turn their children or their tax dollars over to entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, corporations, and vendors of snake oil.
With Anthony Cody and others, I helped to create the Network for Public Education to bring together activists from across the nation. With the help of parent groups, teacher groups, the BATs, and friends of public education in every state, we will stop the effort to privatize our public schools. We understand the privatizers’ strategy: First, demand perfection (e.g., No Child Left Behind). Second, anything less than perfection is declared evidence of abject failure. Third, divert attention from the real causes of low academic performance, which is poverty and inequality. Fourth, attack anyone calling attention to poverty as someone just making excuses for bad teachers. Fifth, create a frenzied hunt for a statistical means of finding and firing those “bad” teachers. Sixth, eliminate due process for teachers so they can be fired for any reason without a hearing. On and on it goes.
That’s why this blog is here. It exists to tell parents and educators: You are not alone. We will join together and defeat those who would destroy one of our most important democratic institutions, doors open to all.
We will strive together so that all children have equality of educational opportunity. We will not stop until every child may attend schools with experienced teachers, reasonable class sizes, the arts, foreign languages, history, civics, physical education, mathematics, literature, and the sciences. Nor will we be content until every school has a library with librarians, counselors, a school nurse, and a psychologist. What we want for all children is what parents in well-resourced districts expect for their children.
Join the conversation. Join us as we organize, mobilize and speak out, not only for our children but for our society and our democracy.
